UPDATE 2-California declares emergency as wildfire advances on town

August 22, 2012|Reuters

* Some 3,000 people evacuated

* Firefighters expected to inspect damage on Wednesday

(Updates with fire approaching town)

By Mary Slosson

RED BLUFF, Calif., Aug 22 (Reuters) - California GovernorJerry Brown declared a state of emergency in three NorthernCalifornia counties on Wednesday after a wildfire that hasalready destroyed 50 buildings advanced with 75-foot flames on atiny community at the doorstep of a national park.

Firefighters scrambled to head off the so-called PonderosaFire, which had already scorched 24,000 acres (9,700 hectares),before it reached the outskirts of Mineral, a community of lessthan 200 people just south of Lassen National Volcanic Park.

Authorities issued an evacuation warning for Mineral asflames roared 75 feet (23 metres) high on the side of Highway36, the main route into town, and burned through a rocky canyonwhere firefighters struggled to make a stand.

Crews also bulldozed a trench to serve as a last line ofdefense between the fire and the town.

"All the vegetation is ready to burn and so once theafternoon winds begin to blow up the canyon, those fuels burnaggressively and you have what we call blow-up conditions,"Chico Fire Division Chief Shane Lauderdale told Reuters.

"It pushes the firefighters out of the area they are workingand goes over the (containment) line and creates situationswhere we have to back out," Lauderdale said.

The lightning-sparked fire was threatening Mineral aftercrews had turned it away from two small communities to the west,Shingletown and Manton.

All told, more than 3,000 people have been forced to fleetheir homes in the rural California counties of Tehama andShasta, about 125 miles (200 km) north of the state capital,Sacramento, a lt hough evacuation orders had been lifted byWednesday afternoon from Shingletown and several other areas.

Highway 44, the main artery into Lassen Volcanic NationalPark, was also reopened, although portions of the LassenNational Park Highway were closed along with some trails andcampgrounds, according to an alert on the park's website.

The blaze was 50 percent contained as of Wednesdayafternoon, fire officials said, but they listed 200 homes, 10commercial properties and 30 outbuildings as still at risk ofbeing consumed by the explosive fire.

The Ponderosa fire is one of dozens burning acrossdrought-parched states in the U.S. West, including a blaze thatdestroyed dozens of homes this week in Washington state andanother that threatened a town in Southern California.

"Firefighters are working aggressively to buildapproximately 11 miles (18 km) of line and strengthen existingcontainment lines," the California Department of Forestry andFire Protection said on its website.